Discover Parczew: History, Culture and Walking Trails

Parczew offers several ways to plan a trip focused on the town’s history, religious buildings and walking trails. Its preserved medieval street layout, the market hall on Plac Wolności and the walking routes described through the town allow for different areas of focus. To help with your planning, it is worth deciding in advance whether you would like to spend more time on architecture and history or set aside time for a walking route.

Churches, Market Square and Town History

The Minor Basilica, the Sanctuary of Our Lady Queen of Families, is a Neo-Gothic church with two distinctive towers and five wooden altars. Inside, polychrome decorations and stained-glass windows adorn the space. The windows include one depicting St Anthony, dating from 1939, and one depicting the Assumption of Mary, dating from 1937. Pope John Paul II granted the church the status of a minor basilica in 1989. Directly beside it stands the wooden bell tower from 1675, which now serves as a funeral chapel.

Plac Wolności is the market square within the historic medieval street layout. The market hall, built in 1938 to a design by Artur Bernhardt, is located there. The layout dates back to the town’s foundation under Magdeburg law; underground archaeological traces add to the picture of the settlement and its development. The square and the hall thus offer two different ways to explore the town’s history: its layout and a specific 20th-century building.

Records of Parczew’s history also date back a long way: the settlement, formerly called Parczów, is documented as early as the 13th century. In 1401, Władysław Jagiełło granted Parczew town rights; in 1413, Horodle designated it as a venue for Polish-Lithuanian meetings and Sejms. Parczew also lies on the route of the historic royal Kraków–Lublin–Vilnius tract, revived as the international Jagiellonian Trail.

Religious Heritage and Places of Remembrance

A Way of the Cross was created in 2008 beside the Church of St John the Baptist. Its stations are stone sculptures depicting events from the final days of Christ’s life. The Church of St John the Baptist complex is listed in the register and inventory of historic monuments. These architectural and artistic works complement the town’s medieval history with religious architecture and sculpture.

Two more chapters in Parczew’s history can be found at 1 Piwonia Street. The former synagogue was built after 1873 in the eclectic style and used for religious purposes until 1939. The former Jewish mikveh at the same address dates from the early 20th century. After the Second World War, it was converted into an events and cinema hall; today it is a wedding venue. The history of the two buildings thus encompasses a range of past and present uses.

A park with a monument to the victims of the Second World War now stands on the site of the former Jewish cemetery, which was established around 1566 and destroyed during the Second World War. The site combines a historic place with its present-day commemorative function.

Walking Trails and Trip Planning

For a longer hike, one option is the green PTTK trail LU-5516: it is 29 kilometres long, connects the Parczew bus station with Białka and passes through the streets of Parczew. The black trail is shorter, at 8.9 kilometres; it runs from Milanów to Parczew and enters the town via Władysława Jagiełły Street. The length and endpoints can help you decide which of these two described routes best suits your plans. Check the local trail markers before setting out.

A 2017 description of the Parczew section of the red PTTK Partisan Trail LU-5515 traces the route from the railway station via Przemysłowa and Laskowska streets towards the village of Laski and onwards to the Parczew forests. As with this route, check the current signs on site.

Another reason to visit is the annual Jarmark Jagielloński in Parczew. The events and offerings mentioned include historical re-enactments, sculpture, painting and traditional crafts, including ceramics, pottery and embroidery. Dates vary from one edition to the next. If the market is important to your trip plans, check the dates for the relevant edition in advance.

You can plan your trip around the topics that interest you on site. First decide which of these aspects matter for your stay, then look for a hotel in Parczew that suits your specific travel plans.

Discover more destinations: Jasionka Druga, Dębowa Kłoda, Opole, Babianka, Leitnie.

Return to the main travel overview: Parczew.